Has anyone experienced Pneumonia? And did it recur once treatment had stopped??

My daughter was in hospital last wk on IV antibiotics and oxygen with double pneumonia. Her oral antibiotics finished today however she seems to be weak. She tires easily and her colour dips still. (She was completely blue when in hosp!!) She has an occasional cough too and just isn't back on form.

I was just concerned that it hasn't completely gone yet?? Or it had gone but is creeping back?? Or does it just take forever to go??

3 Replies

My husband had double pneumonia earlier this year and it took 6 weeks for the main symptoms to clear (he was off work all that time) then I'd say it took another month for him to be himself again.

So far its not recurred but his gp was very clear that he will now have a weaker chest than before and if he feels symptoms coming back to go back for antibiotics etc sooner rather than later.

Hope your daughter improves quickly, lots of DVDs and mummy snuggles!

X

4 years agoHidden

Sorry to hear you're daughter has been unwell.

I had walking pneumonia last year and it still took 6-8 weeks for the symptoms, mainly fatigue to disappear enough for me to feel healthy again. Plenty of rest very important. I think if you're at all concerned it'd be wise to get her checked even if it just eases your worries.

Hope she recovers soon.

4 years agoHidden

Has anyone experienced Pneumonia? And did it recur once treatment had stopped??

My daughter was in hospital last wk on IV antibiotics and oxygen with double pneumonia. Her oral antibiotics finished today however she seems to be weak. She tires easily and her colour dips still. (She was completely blue when in hosp!!) She has an occasional cough too and just isn't back on form.

I was just concerned that it hasn't completely gone yet?? Or it had gone but is creeping back?? Or does it just take forever to go??

Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

Hi Emily,

Yes, I've had it, yes it came back (several times).

Sorry to hear your daughter has had it too, and that she is still feeling poorly, but that was certainly normal in my experience. The first time I had it, I was almost ventilated in ITU, IV antibiotics for two weeks, off work four months (feeling mostly exhausted and lousy) and then back in hospital a couple of weeks after returning to work. And so it went on... again and again until I had to give up my community nursing job a year later.

Hopefully they got a sputum sample from her so they could find out what bug they were treating and give the correct antibiotic intravenously... It seems odd that she only had a week of IV antibiotics, the standard when I get any infection (never mind raging pneumonia) is 10-14 days of IV's. I know in the general hospitals they can be a bit more, um, reluctant.. to give longer courses, which is shortsighted if the infection is still there as it encourages antibiotic resistance.

Obviously everyone is different, and has different other issues potentially, but I would suggest speaking to your GP if you are still concerned. If she is still coughing up sputum, they could send another sample off for culturing.